A panorama of XVIIIth-century French painting is presented in this exhibition
through the works of one hundred selected artists. In addition to the pictorial
world, the history, music, literature and science of the period are recalled in
the background to these occasionally little-known works from eighteen museums
all over France.

The age of Enlightenment can be situated between the death of Louis XIV, in
1715, and the coup d'état of the 18th Brumaire (9th November) 1799, when
the future emperor Napoléon Bonaparte took power. The intervening
period may be divided into several stages: first the Regency
(1715-1723), followed by the reigns of Louis XV (1723-1774) and Louis
XVI (1774-1791), and finally the French Revolution (1789-1799).

France, at that time the most densely populated country in Europe, was to
experience almost eighty years of domestic peace and economic prosperity. With
the emergence of the philosophical spirit in salons, cafés and clubs,
came the gradual erosion of monarchical authority, undermined by tentative,
short-lived reforms and opposition from the aristocracy. Strengthened by their
new-found financial power, the capitalistic bourgeoisie showed clear signs of
wanting to annex political power, an ambition that would be achieved from 1789
onwards.

In the domain of the arts, the ageing Louis XIV hoped to see "childhood
instilled in everything." Under the Regency, this trend of
light-heartedness became more pronounced and was to flourish during the
reign of Louis XV. The widespread taste for elegance, comfort and beautiful
objects even infiltrated the ranks of the bourgeoisie. But, in the
second half of the century, the philosophers reacted against society's
libertine tendencies, with which they associated the rocaille style. They
advocated a return to the virtues of Ancient and Republican Rome, the
majority of which would be adopted as the revolutionary ideal.

The Regency (1715-1723)

Since Louis XV was only five years old in 1715, Louis XIV's nephew, the
Duke of Orléans, became regent. The court left Versailles to take
up residence in Paris. Thus began a period marked by its liberalisation of
institutions, religion and ethics, after the imposed rigour of the last years
of the preceding reign. In the words of a popular song, "C'est le joli
temps de la Regence / Où l'on fit tout , excepté
pénitence" (It's the time of the Regency / When we can do
everything, except penitence), but that did not stop Voltaire from being
imprisoned in the Bastille in 1717. The ban on Italian comedy, formerly
regarded as licentious, was lifted. In the political arena, the upper
aristocracy, including one of its most famous representatives, the Duke of
Saint-Simon, and Parliament hampered the government, which was helpless both in
the face of such blanket opposition to change and in its difficult financial
situation, aggravated by the failure of Law's state banking system.

According to the princess Palatine, the regent "loved the arts and, above all,
painting." The refined, distant vision of Antoine Watteau and his two
rivals, Pater and Lancret, epitomise the spirit of the day. But,
in spite of his excesses, the regent was Louis XIII's grandson and entertained
a certain idea of grandeur. He thus appointed Antoine Coypel, the
representative of what was then termed the grand genre , to be his First
Painter.

The reign of Louis XV (1723-1774)

On the death of the regent, Louis XV acceded to the throne. But the real power
was held first by the Duke of Bourbon, then by Cardinal de Fleury, who
managed to redress the economy. In 1730, the clergy refused Christian burial to
the famous actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, whose body was thrown on the city dump.
Louis XV governed by himself between 1743 and 1758. The same year as the
disastrous Battle of Rossbach (1757), the publication of the
Encyclopedia was forbidden. The king entrusted the ruling of the
kingdom to the Duke of Choiseul, who indirectly favoured parliament and
the philosophers' opposition. In 1770, with the arrival of the Maupeou,
Aiguillon and Terray triumvirate, tougher measures were taken. A growing
interest in all forms of science developed and would be pursued under
the following reign. France's cultural influence had never been so
profound (Voltaire was summoned to the court of Frederick II of Prussia), but,
in foreign affairs, despite a number of military successes, the nation
appeared politically weakened, as the loss of Canada in 1763 was to
prove.

The Marquise de Pompadour became the king's mistress in 1745, the year in which
Voltaire was appointed historiographer to the king. She was to play an
important role in the domain of arts and letters. She secured a post for her
brother, the Marquis de Marigny, as Administrator of Royal Residences.
Carefully prepared for his new duties, the latter judiciously gave commissions
to artists of the rocaille style, like Boucher and Fragonard, as
well as to more classical artists, like Greuze, Vernet, Carle
Van Loo and Vien.

The reign of Louis XVI (1774-1791)

Open-minded, interested in science and geography, but indecisive, Louis XVI let
himself be ruled by his wife, Marie-Antoinette, and his brothers, the
Count of Artois and the Count of Provence. Confronted by the aristocracy, the
king was unable to impose the reforms undertaken by his "enlightened"
ministers, Turgot, Malesherbes, Vergennes, Necker, Calonne and Loménie
de Brienne, who would all fail in their attempts to redress the country's
finances. From 1788 onwards, France sank into an economic depression. While the
signing of the Treaty of Versailles, in 1783, had ended the American War of
Independence, for those members of society who were tired of absolute
monarchy it had also sanctioned the republican ideal.

As for the arts, the Count of Angiviller, Administrator of Royal
Residences, with his advisor Jean-Baptiste Pierre, First Painter to the
King, enforced the supremacy of history painting. Vien, head of the
French Academy in Rome, encouraged the neoclassical tendencies of certain
prizewinning residents, such as Regnault, Suvée,
Peyron and David.

The Revolution (1789-1799)

The States General, assembled at Versailles from 9th July 1789 onwards,
abolished absolute monarchy and the feudal system. They adopted The
Declaration of the Rights of Man and established a constitution in France,
now "one and indivisible." The war with neighbouring countries,
supported by both Louis XVI, no longer King of France, but King of the French
people, and the majority of the members of the legislative Assembly, hastened
the fall of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Republic. The excessive
violence of the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary factions,
together with the economic crisis and the rising power of the army contributed
to Napoléon Bonaparte's successful coup d'état in 1799.

Some painters, like Jean-Germain Drouais, used this troubled period as a
pretext for glorifying the heroes of an exemplary Antiquity. Others, like
Boilly and David, chose to depict contemporary events and would
soon rally to the Empire. Hennequin became involved with the most
intransigent of revolutionary groups, while Gros was quick to champion
the Bonapartist epic.

Painting

The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture dominated the arts throughout
the Age of Enlightenment. The hierarchy of genres was omnipotent and
state commissions were awarded only to academicians. But the court
gradually lost its exclusivity in matters of taste and individual
patronage took on a new significance.

Up to around 1750, painting was imbued with pleasure, fable and
light-heartedness. But, in the second half of the century, painters
found themselves faced with a choice. Were they to be charming or instructive?
Just as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Diderot denounced society's decadence
and exhorted a return to a simple, virtuous way of life, the trend
towards heroic Antiquity, which in David and Jean-Germain
Drouais' works soon became synonymous with revolutionary valour, was
directly opposed to the rocaille style and its best-known exponents
Boucher and Fragonard. But, between these two extremes, were a
host of nuanced styles sometimes represented by lesser-known painters, such as
Natoire. At the very end of the century, the François
Gérard, Gros and Girodet generation was already
forming the avant-garde of Romanticism.

The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was the brainchild of painter
Charles Le Brun and was founded in 1648 under Mazarin's patronage. With its
strict hierarchical system of organisation: director, chancellor,
rector, professors, academicians and elected
members, the Royal Academy rapidly monopolised the arts. Up to the time
of David, himself a product of the Academy, its opponents were
rare, as were the painters who made a successful career outside this powerful
institution. The Rome Prize confirmed the end of young artists' initial
studies and enabled the winners to go to the French Academy in Rome to
complete their training. Certain artists, like Barbault or
Vernet, who had trained in the provinces, went to Italy on their own
initiative and chose to make their career there. To enter the ranks of the
Academy, artists had to have their admission piece accepted. Members
exhibited their works in the Louvre's salon carré (square room)
every two years; consequently, this exhibition became known as the
Salon. The posts of first painters, ordinary painter and
inspector or inspector general of royal factories were usually reserved
for academicians. Only the Count of Artois and Marie-Antoinette would appoint
painters who did not belong to this venerable establishment: Moreau the
Elder and Ducreux respectively. A few foreign artists were
admitted to the Royal Academy and other Academies set up in the
provinces and abroad were often based on the Parisian model.

The hierarchy of genres

Even though painters constantly went beyond the limits of their assigned
speciality, the hierarchy of genres remained an essential criterion in
eighteenth-century painting. Jean-Antoine Watteau was the only one to
invent a short-lived genre known as the fête galante . The genres
were graded in order of importance, starting at the top: history
painting, the portrait, genre painting, still-life and
landscape.

History painting

Also known as the grand genre , it was the noblest form of art. The
first painter to the king, the directors of the Academy and of
the French Academy in Rome were always chosen from its exponents. What
distinguished it from other genres was the importance laid on the human figure,
rather than the severity of the subject, for, in the eighteenth century,
history painting did not solely infer heroism and austerity. David,
Jean-François de Troy, Noël Hallé,
Lemoyne, Natoire, Restout, Subleyras, Carle Van
Loo, Vien and Vincent, but also Boucher and
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, all belonged to this category of painters.
History painting included biblical scenes, religious scenes,
historical scenes or scenes from Antiquity, occasionally
embellished with symbolic or allegorical references, mythological scenes
and subjects borrowed from more or less modern literary sources.

The portrait

"The Salon will imperceptibly become nothing more than a portrait gallery. They
take up almost a third of this one," observed Diderot. This enthusiasm for the
portrait testifies to the Age of Enlightenment's sustained interest in mankind.
Alongside recognised portraitists, other painters - Boilly, Boucher,
David, Danloux, Duplessis, Fragonard, Greuze, Gros,
Prud'hon, Vincent, Wicar - eagerly tried their hand at this
sought-after and thus profitable genre. Rigaud, Alexis-Simon Belle,
Aved, Nattier, François-Hubert Drouais,
Tocqué, Ducreux, AdélaïdeLabille-Guiard and Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun worked
for the court of France, while Louis-Michel Van Loo found custom at the
Spanish court. Roslin was much esteemed by the aristocracy, as was
Largillière by the upper middle classes, Perronneau by the
bourgeoisie involved in international business and Aubry by artists.
François Gérard became the Bonaparte family's favourite
portraitist under the First Empire. The pictorial quality of this genre was
often coupled with a genuine iconographical interest, with portraits of
architects, men of letters, musicians, actors,
painters or sculptors, prelates, politicians,
royalty and scholars.

Parallel to these realist portraits, generally reserved for the bourgeoisie and
artists, the mythological portrait also enjoyed a certain amount of
success, especially at court.

Genre painting

Sometimes termed the petit genre , or the genre scene, it was often
anecdotal and light-hearted. Inspired by XVIIth-century Dutch
painting, it usually depicted interior scenes or scenes from everyday
life. With subjects and sizes adapted to the cosy interiors of the period, the
genre was much appreciated, especially by the bourgeoisie. History painters
like Boucher had so few qualms about tackling this genre, which
flourished throughout the century, that it was sometimes difficult to discern
the border between grand genre and petit genre . Thus,
despite his efforts to be admitted as a history painter, Greuze was only
accepted by the Academy in the genre-scene category.

Still-life

Regarded as a minor genre, officially still-life was little known.
Nevertheless, it was occasionally included in history compositions
and portraits. In the other categories, painters were required by
the Academy to present one admission piece, but those specialising in
still-life had to submit two. First Painter Jean-Baptiste Pierre, who
wished to impose history painting as the supreme genre, made sure
Chardin was never given an official position. Still-life can be divided
into two categories: the sumptuous style represented by Desportes,
Largillière and Oudry was inherited from the Baroque manner, while the
more intimate vision of Chardin, Roland Delaporte and Anne
Vallayer-Coster was inspired by Dutch painting. Certain masters, such as
Oudry, Ordinary Painter of Royal Hunts, or Desportes, moved
imperceptibly from still-life to animal painting.

Landscape

In the hierarchy of genres, landscape was the lowest category. Though few
painters adopted it professionally, many, even the greatest, like
Largillière, Oudry, Boucher, Fragonard or David, tried
their hand at it in private, in sketches or drawings. Works depicting an exact
location are rare, since academic tradition required landscapes to be ideal,
and thus timeless. Nevertheless, apart from these composed landscapes,
others bore witness to a rigorous observation of nature.

Landscape according to the strictest definition of the term was the speciality
of Allegrain, Houel, Lacroix de Marseille, Moreau the
Elder, Vernet and Valenciennes and should be associated with
the architectural views executed by De Machy, Lallemand and
Hubert Robert.

State commissions

The Administrator of Royal Residences played a cardinal role in official
artistic policy. It was often he who, concurring with the king, suggested
commissions and chose an artist. Holders of this position included the Duke of
Antin from 1708-1736, Philibert Orry from 1736-1745, Le Normand de Tournehem
from 1745-1751, Marigny from 1751-1774 and finally Angiviller
from 1774 onwards. Marigny skilfully balanced the tastes of his sister, the
Marquise de Pompadour, and the king for rocaille painting with the new more
severe trends. Angiviller, advised by First Painter Jean-Baptiste
Pierre, attempted to impose history painting's supremacy.

Besides the state portraits of the sovereign, commissions covered the
decoration of royal or official buildings and tapestry models
and cartoons destined for the royal factories. Certain commissions were
used for propaganda purposes. Subjects from French history showed
the permanence of monarchical authority. Vernet's ports of France were
discreet reminders of the advantages of the government's maritime policy.

Individual patronage

Following a long-established tradition, religious institutions continued
to provide artists with a substantial number of commissions.

Among leading figures close to the monarchy, a certain synthesis occasionally
occurred between official and personal taste. When the Duke of Orléans
became regent, he appointed his favourite painter, Antoine Coypel, First
Painter to the King. Philibert Orry, Controller General of Finances and
Administrator of Royal Residences, commissioned Natoire to execute a
series of paintings for his Château de La Chapelle-Godefroy, near
Nogent-sur-Seine.

In the provinces, by choosing to employ innovative artists, wealthy art lovers
were sometimes ahead of official tendencies. In Bordeaux, the lawyer Saige
asked Pierre Lacour to decorate his mansion, built by Victor
Louis, while the future member of the National Convention,
Boyer-Fonfrède, engaged Vincent. In Beaune, the Baron de
Joursanvault discovered and patronized young artists like Prud'hon and
Jean-Claude Naigeon.

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF ARTISTS

ARTISTS' PLACE OF ORIGIN

PARIS and its region

FOREIGN COUNTRIES

INDEX OF ARTISTS

Chronological list of Rome prizewinners and heads of the French Academy in
Rome

Short genealogy

CATALOGUE OF WORKS

Allegrain Etienne

Paris, 1644; Paris, 1736.

Academician and specialist in "heroic" landscape.

The Hôtel des Invalides seen from the Banks of the Seine.

Oil on canvas; 37 cm x 54 cm.

Executed between 1706 and 1736. Formerly attributed to Francisque Millet,
before being attributed to Allegrain by Marandet. Dominique Morlot Bequest to
the city of Troyes in 1833.

Executed between 1781 and 1789. Entered the Bihn Gallery. Gift of Anne
Murray-Dike to the French State before 1928.

The officers depicted on the upper left and right panels are La Fayette and
Washington. Hanging on the pyramid of immortality, which recalls the Battle of
Yorktown (see Ménageot's painting Allegory of the Birth of the
Dauphin ), are medallion portraits of La Fayette, Louis XVI,
Marie-Antoinette, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. America is
represented by Indians, while a woman in a cloak adorned with fleurs-de-lys
symbolises France. The lower central panels illustrate the existing trade links
between France and America.

Apocryphal signature: Greuze 1777. Engraving after this painting dated
1781. In the Vibert sale on 28 April 1887 (ndeg. 30). Antonin Marmontel Bequest
to the French State in 1907. Falsely attributed to Jean-Baptiste Greuze by
Brière in 1924.

The composer Christoph Willibald Glück (1714-1787) was musical director at
the Viennese court. In collaboration with the Italian writer Calzabigi, he
undertook to reform opera, which led to much controversy, especially in France,
where he had settled in 1773.

Academician, Painter to the King, he was primarily a high-society
portraitist.

Victor Riqueti, Marquis of Mirabeau.

Oil on canvas; 146 cm x 113 cm.

Exhibited at the 1743 Salon. Purchased by the French State from Madame de
Villeneuve in 1850.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "Portrait of M. the
Marquis of Mirabeau in his Cabinet, leaning on M. Follard's Polybe ."
Victor Riqueti, Marquis of Mirabeau (1715-1789), nicknamed "the friend of
mankind", after the title of one of his books, was an economist. In 1760, he
published his Theory of Taxation for which he was imprisoned at
Vincennes. Father of the politician, he declared himself as much an enemy of
despotism and superstition as the Philosophers. At the time of this portrait,
the sitter had not yet abandoned his military career. Jean-Claude de Follard
(1669-1752), author of the book Polybe on which the model is leaning,
was a man of war and a reputed tactician.

Executed in Rome around 1750. A pendant is also found at the Musée
d'Orléans (inv. 71-7-1). There are at least five other slightly varying
versions of this painting, which was engraved by Léon Gaucherel in 1862.
Léon Gaucherel Collection (1863). Count Vandalin-Mniszech sale, Paris,
10 March 1926 (ndeg. 30). Mr. and Mrs. Henry Luce sale, New York, 22 October
1970. Purchased by the city of Orléans on the London art market in
1971.

The young woman wears the costume of girls whose dowries were provided by the
Pope, either to help them get married or for those intending to take holy
orders.

Exhibited at the 1777 Salon. Alexandre Poirson Bequest to the city of Bordeaux
in 1900.

Latin historian Valere Maxime relates how a convicted Roman woman was sentenced
to death by starvation. Her daughter was surprised secretly breastfeeding her.
Pliny adds that a temple of filial piety was then built on the site of the
prison. In Festus' version of the same story, the woman is replaced by a man,
Cimon, whose daughter Pera's name is specified.

Daughter of Stanislas Leszczynski, King of Poland, Marie Leszczynska
(1703-1768) married Louis XV in 1725 and was to give him six daughters and one
son, Louis of Bourbon (1729-1765), Dauphin of France, who is portrayed here.
The prince is wearing the Order of the Holy Spirit. The arms of France and
Poland can be seen on the back of the seat.

Academician, professor then rector of the Academy, history painter and
portraitist.

Minerva Hands Hercules the Decree Abolishing the Vices of the Former
Government.

Oil on canvas; 356 cm x 386 cm.

Model for the tapestry ordered by the Count of Angiviller in 1788 for the
Gobelins factory. Originally part of a triptych (inventory numbers of the other
two elements: inv. 20297 B and C) on the theme of the Temple of Themis,
transformed in 1794 into an Allegory of the Revolution . Manner and date
of acquisition unknown.

Silk designer, pastellist and watercolourist, he was also the society portrait
painter of Lyons.

Madrepores and Shells.

Oil on canvas; 75 cm x 56 cm.

Signed, situated, dated: Berjon Lyon 1810 (bottom left).

Presented at the 1810 Salon under the title Shells and Madrepores on a
Porphyry Pedestal, then at the exhibition of the Society of the Friends of
the Arts at St. Peter's Palace in Lyons in 1843-4. Purchased by the city of
Lyons in 1844.

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, history painter specialising in the
Middle Ages and opera costume designer.

The Constancy of Eliezer.

Oil on wood; 40.5 cm x 32 cm.

Study executed between 1787 and 1789 for a work exhibited at the 1789 Salon now
in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Angers. Another study for the same
painting is in the Musée de Laon. A sketch can also be found in the
Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai. Purchased by the city of Douai at an
auction sale on 7 November 1963 at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris (ndeg. 3).

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "Eliezer, one of the
leading scribes and doctors of law, whom Antiochus wanted to force to sacrifice
to idols, preferred death to the crime of eating forbidden meat." When his
friends urged him to pretend to eat the flesh forbidden by the sacred law,
Eliezer replied: "At our age [...], it is not fitting to pretend, for fear that
numerous young people, convinced that Eliezer, at ninety years of age, had
embraced foreign customs, would also be lost, because of me and my deceit..."
He was thus tortured to death, "setting an example of courage and virtue not
only for the youth of the day, but also for the great majority of the nation."
The scene was taken from the Bible's second book of Maccabaeus (VI, 18-31) and
heralded the virtuous examples so often represented during the Revolution.

Study executed around 1703 for the admission piece to the Academy (in the
Louvre Museum, inv. 2537). Jules Audéoud Donation to the city of Rouen
in 1885.

This work depicts Hercules' eighth exploit. While he was travelling through the
Caucasus to reach the garden of the Hesperides, the hero slew with his arrow
the eagle which gnawed the liver of Prometheus. The latter had been sentenced
to this eternal torture for having stolen fire from Jupiter to give to men.
Prometheus thanked his rescuer by telling him how to obtain the golden apples
from the garden of the Hesperides.

Specialist in gallant or didactic scenes, much appreciated under the Revolution
and the Directoire.

Gathering of Artists in Isabey's Studio.

Oil on canvas; 71.5 cm x 111 cm.

Signed: L. Boilly.

Exhibited at the 1798 Salon. Arnault sale on 15 April 1835 (ndeg. 36). H.
Seguin sale on 9 May 1866. Horsin-Déon sale on 28 February 1867 (ndeg.
12). Biesta-Monrival Bequest to the French State in 1901 (actual entry in
1911).

Depicted from left to right are: the composer Etienne Mehul, the art critic
Hoffman, an unidentified person, the sculptor Charles-Louis Corbet, the
painters Michel-Martin Drolling, Jean-Louis Demarne, Jean-Baptiste Isabey
leaning towards the easel, François Gérard sitting in front of
the easel, Nicolas-Antoine Taunay and Jacques-François-Joseph Swebach,
the miniaturist Charles Bourgeois, the painters Guillaume Lethière and
Carle Vernet, the engraver Duplessi-Bertaux, the architects
Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine and Charles Percier, the actor
Baptiste, senior member of the Comédie Française, sitting next to
a portfolio of drawings, the painter-architect Jean-Thomas Thibaut, the
painters Jan Frans Van Dael and Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the actor Talma,
the painters Charles Meynier and Louis-Léopold Boilly, the actor Chenard
from the Italian theatre, the painters Xavier Bidault and Girodet-Trioson,
sitting looking at the spectator, the sculptor Denis Chaudet, the engraver
Maurice Blot, the sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot, the
painter Gioacchino Serangeli and an unknown figure.

Two studies were drawn for the woman drinking coffee; one is in the Hermitage
Museum in St. Petersburg, the other was formerly in the Liechtenstein
Collection in Vaduz. A sketch of the man holding the coffee pot can be seen in
the Art Institute of Chicago.

This painting is a perfect illustration of what was then called the genre
scene: a moment of everyday life in a cosy interior. The furniture, wall-clock,
sconces, pier glass and fireplace are all in the rocaille style. The magot,
near the mirror, like the vase on the pedestal table, testify to the vogue for
"Chinoiseries." One of the young women is wearing patches on her face, thus
conforming to the fashion of the day. On the right of the composition, the
child whose head is padded to protect him against potential bumps adds a
domestic detail.

Admitted to the Academy as a history painter, he also executed still-lifes and
genre scenes.

Bathers.

Oil on canvas; 78 cm x 51 cm.

Legrix de Tustal Collection. Purchased by the city of Bordeaux from M. Duclos
in 1850.

This scene was based on a passage in the Tales of theArabian Nights
, translated by Galland in 1704. Like Watteau's Persians or
Montesquieu's Persian Letters, it illustrates the prevailing fascination
for Oriental subjects.

Commissioned circa 1776 by the Count of Angiviller, the Administrator of Royal
Residences. Louis XVI Collection. Crown Collection. Property of the French
State. Sent to the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse in 1873.

A previous version of the same scene was painted for Abbot Terray and exhibited
at the 1775 Salon under the ndeg. 28 (Abbot Terray sale, 20 January 1779, ndeg.
7).

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "Caius Furius
Cresimus, summoned before the Aedile to clear himself of a charge of using
magic to produce such an abundance of crops in his small field, displayed his
farm tools in good condition, his wife, daughter and healthy fat oxen; then,
addressing the assembled people, shouted, "Oh Romans, here is my sorcery! But
what I am unable to bring with me and show in public are my pains, my efforts
and my lack of sleep. (Pliny. Hist. Nat. Bk. 18 Ch. 6)." This episode is
in fact described in Chapter 41 of Book XVIII.

Toulouse, Musée des Augustins (inv. RO 35, D. 1873. 4).

(C) Copyright Direction des Musées de France, 1994.

Chardin Jean Siméon

Paris, 1699; Paris, 1779.

Academician, specialising in still-life and genre-scene figures.

The Ray.

Oil on canvas; 114.5 cm x 146 cm.

Admission piece to the Academy (1728). Exhibited Place Dauphine in Paris in
1728. Academy Collection. Confiscated under the Revolution. Assigned to the
Louvre in 1851.

Academician, director of the Academy, First Painter to the King and skilful
decorator, strongly influenced by the theatre, he was primarily a history
painter.

Aeneas' Descent into Hell.

Oil on canvas; 385 cm x 752 cm. Painting extremely damaged.

The central piece of the Aeneas Gallery, painted circa 1616-17 for the regent
Philip of Orléans. Removed circa 1778 at the time of the gallery's
demolition. Acquired by the king with the Château of Saint-Cloud in 1785.
Confiscated under the Revolution. Formerly attributed to Charles Coypel.
Numerous preparatory drawings in the Louvre.

Inverted engraving by Louis Surugue circa 1740.

The scene is borrowed from Virgil's Aeneid (Bk. VI, 637-891): "... they
[Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl] reached the realms of joy, the verdant delights
of the groves of bliss, and the halls of the blessed [the Elysian Fields]. Here
a fuller air bathes the plains in a crimson light. The shades behold a sun and
stars that shine for them alone. Some of these spirits exercise in the grassy
wrestling-ring, measuring their strength in sport, or throw each other on the
saffron sand; others chant songs or beat out choric rhythms with their feet
[...] he [Anchises] led both his son and the Sibyl into the midst of the
chattering throng, and stood on a mound from which the hero could scan the
whole of that long line [of shades] and recognise each passing face."

Academician, director of the Academy, history painter and portraitist, he was
very much influenced by the theatre.

Armida Fainting on Rinaldo's Departure.

Oil on canvas; 307 cm x 410 cm.

Signed, dated: C. Coypel 1735 (bottom left).

Tapestry cartoon commissioned for the Gobelins factory for the Tapestry of
Operatic Episodes series. Woven as a tapestry in 1771. Louis XV
Collection. Crown Collection.

The scene was inspired by canto XVI (LIX) of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered
: "suffocated by pain, she was unable to complete her last words. She fell to
the ground half dead; an icy sweat enveloped her; her eyes closed."

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, parliamentary representative in the
National Convention, he became First Painter to the Emperor.

The Oath of the Horatii.

Oil on canvas; 330 cm x 425 cm.

Signed, situated, dated: L. David/faciebat/Romae/anno MDCCLXXXIV.

Commissioned by the Administrator of Royal Residences in 1784. Exhibited at the
1785 Salon under the title The Oath of the Horatii, between their Father's
Hands. Louis XVI Collection. Crown Collection. Exhibited at the 1791
Salon. Property of the French State. The painting has been frequently
reproduced in engravings.

A painted study is also on view at the Louvre (inv. RF 47). A large number of
pencil studies also exist.

The subject heralded the examples of virtue and patriotism dear to the
Revolution.

Depicted in the background are the buildings erected by the king's architect
and director of the Academy of Architecture, Jacques Ange Gabriel (1698-1782),
on the Place Royale, present-day Place de la Concorde, in Paris (see the
portrait of Edme Bouchardon by François-Hubert Drouais).

Commissioned in 1753 for the Church of Saint-André de la Porte aux
Fèves in Rouen. Exhibited at the 1759 Salon (ndeg. 91). Confiscated
during the Revolution in 1792. Belonged to a series of paintings also in the
Rouen Musée des Beaux-Arts (inventory numbers of other works: SR 1 and
SR 3).

The subject is drawn from Jacques de Voragine's Golden Legend . The
following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "The martyrdom of St.
Andrew, when he is about to be nailed to the cross and is asked to worship
idols. The painting was intended for the Church of Rouen whose patron saint is
this holy apostle." According to Jacques de Voragine, it is because he taught
"the dogmas of this superstitious sect [Christianity], the eradication of which
had just been prescribed by the Roman emperors," and because he refused to
worship idols that St. Andrew was finally crucified on order of Aegeus,
proconsul of Achaea.

Academician, portraitist, still-life and animal painter who provided models for
the Gobelins tapestry factory. Worked in Poland and England.

The Wolf Hunt.

Oil on canvas; 336 cm x 332 cm.

Signed, dated: F. Desportes invent et pinxit 1725 (bottom left).

Executed in 1725 for the counsellor Glucq, cousin of Jean de Julienne. Formerly
in the reception room at the Château de Virginie in Sceaux. Confiscated
during the Revolution. Assigned to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, in
1819.

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, First Painter to the Count of Artois,
history painter and portraitist, he was summoned to Russia by Catherine II.

The Miracle of St. Genevieve. (Le Miracle des Ardents )

Oil on canvas; 80 cm x 50 cm.

Study for a painting for the Parisian Church of Saint-Roch (exhibited at the
1767 Salon). Purchased by the French State from Mademoiselle Buon in 1891.
Reproduced in engravings.

An epidemic of plague, known as the "sacred fire" or the mal des
ardents, swept through Paris in 1130. It was warded off thanks to a relic
of the patron saint of Paris, St. Genevieve, preserved in the church of
Sainte-Geneviève-la-Petite, later renamed
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Ardents. Demolished in 1747, this church was
situated on the present-day site of the parvis of Notre-Dame.

Admission piece to the Royal Academy of Painting in 1758. Exhibited at the 1759
Salon under the title Portrait of M. Bouchardon, Sculptor to the King .
Reproduced in engravings. Academy Collection. Confiscated during the
Revolution. Assigned to the Louvre.

Bouchardon (1698-1762) is portrayed in front of one of his works, Cupid
Making a Bow from the Mace of Hercules (Musée du Louvre) and the
model of an equestrian statue of Louis XV intended to grace the present-day
Place de la Concorde in Paris (see De Machy's Imaginary View of a
Parisian Furniture Repository ).

Winner of the Rome Prize, history painter and son of François Hubert
Drouais.

Jesus Driving the Merchants out of the Temple.

Oil on canvas; 38 cm x 46.5 cm.

This study, painted between 1784 and 1788, was formerly attributed to the
18th-century French School. Purchased by the city of Rennes from the
Fischer-Kiener Gallery in 1986.

The painting's sources are from:

- The Gospel according to St. Matthew (Ch. 21): "And Jesus went into the temple
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And
said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves ."

- The Gospel according to St. Mark (Ch.11): "and Jesus went into the temple,
and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And
would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And
he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of
all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of
thieves."

- The Gospel according to St. Luke (Ch.19):"And he went into the temple and
began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto
them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made
it a den of thieves."

- The Gospel according to St. John (Ch.2): "And found in the temple those that
sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting; And when he
had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the
sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the
tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not
my Father's house an house of merchandise."

Pastellist, miniaturist, First Painter to Queen Marie-Antoinette, he travelled
to London and Vienna.

Louis-Antoine, Count of Bougainville.

Oil on canvas; 88 cm x 71 cm.

Executed in 1790. Apocryphal signature.

Purchased by the French State at the Vitu sale, 4 December 1891 (ndeg. 405).

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), mathematician, lawyer and
navigator, first accompanied Montcalm to Canada.When peace was signed in 1763,
he set off to found a colony on the Falkland Islands, which France sold to
Spain three years later. Between 1766 and 1769, he led a scientific expedition
around the world and published an account of his Journey Around the World
in 1771. He was also involved in the American War of Independence. "As far
as I can judge from a rather superficial reading, there are three advantages to
be gained: a better knowledge of our old homeland and its inhabitants; greater
safety on the seas he has roamed with sounding line in hand, and greater
accuracy in our geographical maps. Bougainville left with the necessary
enlightenment and the right qualities for these purposes: philosophy, courage,
truth; a glance prompt enough to grasp a situation and shorten the time of
observation; circumspection, patience; the desire to see, to understand and to
learn; a knowledge of mathematics, mechanics, geometry, astronomy; and a
sufficient smattering of natural history." Diderot, Supplement to
Bougainville's Journey , 1772.

Academician, professor, rector, chancellor of the Academy, painter of popular
and historical scenes.

Glaucus and Scylla.

Oil on canvas; 133 cm x 113.5 cm.

Painted circa 1726. Engraved by Louis Surugue. Sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 9
July 1961 (ndeg. 17). Sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 10 June 1971 (ndeg. 122).
Sale, Paris, Marcus Gallery, 11 December 1981. Purchased in 1981 by the Society
of Friends of the Museums of Troyes, with the help of the Crédit du Nord
and a public appeal fund.

A copy of this painting remains in the La Hyre Collection, while another was
sold at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris in 1986.

The scene is drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses (XIII, 898-968): "...the
group of Nereides broke up; they swam away into the calm waters [...] she
[Scylla] reached the top of a hill near the shore [...] Glaucus appeared [...]
not knowing whether he was a monster or a god, she gazed at him, surprised at
his colour, at his hair falling over his shoulders and down his back; she was
astonished to see the lower half of his body disappear into a coiled
fish-tail..." Glaucus then relates to Scylla how he was changed from a
fisherman into a sea-monster.

Academician, he had a great following as a portraitist at the French court.

Portrait of the Count of Angiviller.

Oil on canvas; 47 cm x 39 cm.

Study painted for the portrait today found at the Musée de Versailles,
and exhibited at the 1779 Salon under the title Portrait de M. le Comte
d'Angiviller, Directeur et Ordonnateur général des Bâtimens
. Donation subject to usufruct by the Duke of Aumale to the French
Institute in 1886 (actual entry in 1897, no loans or deposits permitted).

Another portrait of Angiviller may be found in Noranger Castle (Denmark).

Charles Claude de Flahaut de La Billarderie, Count of Angiviller (1730-1809)
was steward in charge of the royal botanical gardens before becoming, in 1774,
after Marigny's resignation, the Chief Administrator of Royal
Residences, a post he held until the fall of the monarchy. He is seen here
wearing the insignia of the Orders of Saint-Louis, of Saint-Maurice and Lazare
and of Saint-Lazare-de-Jérusalem.

Commissioned by Louis XVI. Copy of a painting by Guido Reni executed for St.
Peter's, Rome, currently held in the Vatican art gallery.

Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. 20541).

(C) Copyright Direction des Musées de France, 1994.

Fragonard Jean Honoré

Grasse, 1732; Paris, 1806.

Winner of the Rome Prize, admitted to the Academy, he turned his back on the
latter and history painting to concentrate on a more lighthearted style
destined for connoisseurs' collections. During the Revolution, he was a member
of the Conservatoire and Museum Commission.

The scene is borrowed from Canto XXXIII of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso :
"Looking around him, he [Orlando] saw inscriptions carved on most of the trees
shading the bank from the sun. On taking a closer glance, he recognised the
handwriting of his goddess [...] He saw the names of Angelica and Medoro
intertwined in a hundred love knots and in over a hundred places. Each letter
that formed these names was like a nail Eros used to pierce him and rend his
heart..."

Painter to Pope Clement XIV in Rome, associated member of the Royal Academy of
Toulouse, history painter and portraitist.

The Punishment of a Vestal Virgin.

Oil on canvas; 32 cm x 48 cm.

Gift of Dr. Alexis Moreau to the city of Orléans in 1879.

The theme of the Vestal virgins was quite unusual at this time, but often
treated by this artist: Offering on the Altar of Vesta of 1776, now in
a private collection in Béziers, Vestals Keeping the Sacred Fire
Burning exhibited at the Hahn Gallery in Paris in May 1979 (ndeg. 6 and
ndeg. 7), Fire in the Temple of Vesta , a pen drawing in a private
collection in Béziers and another drawing illustrating the punishment of
a Vestal virgin exhibited in Carcassonne in 1938 (ndeg. 123).

A companion piece, dated 1798, Andromaque Mourning over the Ashes of
Hector, can also be seen at the Orléans museum.

Priestesses of the Roman goddess Vesta, who presided over every domestic fire,
the Vestals took vows of absolute chastity; those who broke their vows were
punished by death. This scene is drawn from The Story of the Vestals
and Treatise on the Luxury of Roman Women written by Abbot Augustin
Nadal (1659-1740) and published in 1725.

Winner of the Rome Prize, admitted to the Academy, he made his career in Rome.
He was a history, landscape and portrait painter.

Romulus and Remus.

Oil on canvas; 111.5 cm x 142 cm.

Manner and date of acquisition unknown.

The scene is partly inspired by the account of Romulus' life in Plutarch's
Lives of Famous Men : "She gave birth to twin brothers of exceptional
size and beauty. Amulius was even more alarmed and ordered a servant to drown
them. He is said to have been called Faustulus; others say that was the name of
he who found them [...] Unknown to everyone, Faustulus, Amulius' shepherd,
sheltered and brought up the children."

He was the official portraitist to the imperial family, ambassadors of the
empire and foreign heads of state.

Jean-Baptiste Isabey and his Daughter as a Child.

Oil on canvas; 194.5 cm x 130 cm.

Signed, dated: F. Gérard 1795 .

Exhibited at the 1796 Salon. Gift of the painter Eugène Isabey, son of
the sitter, to the French State in 1852.

This work was painted to thank the miniaturist Isabey (1767-1855) for the sale
of Gérard's Belisarius Carrying his Guide after he was Bitten by a
Snake , exhibited at the 1795 Salon. Isabey's daughter would later marry
the painter Pierre Luc Charles Cicéri (1782-1868).

Sister-in-law of J.H. Fragonard, she was a portrait and genre-scene painter.

Bad News.

Oil on canvas; 63.5 cm x 50.5 cm.

Exhibited at the 1804 Salon. Assigned to the French State by the Office des
Biens privés in 1950.

The subject, rather than the technique, is a perfect illustration of the
artist's pre-Romanticism. Women fainting was a recurrent theme in literature of
the period: "this morning's conversation had deeply upset me... my head and my
heart ached... I felt myself growing faint... would Heaven take pity on me? ...
I could no longer stand up..." Letter XII from Julie d'Etange in Jean-Jacques
Rousseau's La Nouvelle Héloïse .

Winner of the Rome Prize, he was one of the figures linking neoclassicism and
Romanticism.

Endymion Sleeping.

Oil on canvas; 49 cm x 62 cm.

Executed in Rome in 1790-91. Exhibited at the 1793 and 1814 Salons. Louis XVIII
Collection. Purchased by the French State in 1818. Reproduced in engravings.

A study (?) for this painting also exists at the Louvre (inv. RF 2152).

In Greek mythology, Selene, the moon goddess, fell in love with Endymion when
she caught a glimpse of him sleeping. At Selene's request, Zeus granted
Endymion's wish for everlasting youth, on condition that he remained eternally
asleep.

Painter of occasionally ambiguous didactic scenes and portraitist, he was
admitted to the Academy as a genre-scene painter.

The Paternal Curse. The Ungrateful Son.

Oil on canvas; 130 cm x 162 cm.

Executed circa1777. Reproduced in engravings in 1778. Marquis de Veri sale in
1785. Laneuville sale in 1813. Purchased by the French State from M. de
Villeserre in 1820. Companion piece to The Punished Son , also in the
Louvre (inv. 5039).

"However much he may have helped his aged father, his mother and brothers, the
eldest son of the house enlisted in the army; but he was not going to leave
without asking these unhappy people for help. He comes with an old soldier; he
makes his request. His father is outraged; he has no kind words for this
negligent son, who no longer cares about his father, mother or filial duties,
and who answers the old man's reproaches with insults..." Diderot.

Member of the Institute, director of the French Academy in Rome and history
painter.

The Return of Marcus Sextus.

Oil on canvas; 217 cm x 243 cm.

Signed, dated: Guérin ft an 7 (1799, bottom left).

Exhibited at the 1799 Salon. Reproduced in engravings. Charles X Collection.
Decretot Collection. Exhibition in aid of the Greeks, Paris, 1826. Purchased by
the French State from M. Coutan in 1830.

The imaginary Roman Marcus Sextus, who escaped from Sulla's proscriptions,
"returned to find his daughter weeping over her dead mother." The painting met
with great success, partly due to its subject, which was interpreted as an
allusion to the return of the émigrés.

Academician, inspector-in-chief of the Gobelins factory, director of the French
Academy in Rome, rector of the Academy and history painter.

The Magistrates of the City of Paris Receiving the News of Peace in 1763.

Oil on canvas; 324 cm x 457 cm.

Signed, dated: Hallé 1767 .

Commissioned for the Parisian town hall. Exhibited at the 1767 Salon. Manner
and date of acquisition unknown.

A study exists in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on 10 February 1763 by France, England and
Portugal, putting an end to the Seven Years' War. With this treaty France
surrendered its Canadian and North American colonies to England. The following
description appeared in the Salon handbook: "An allegorical painting about the
latest peace. / Minerva announces peace to the city of Paris, and leads the
goddess who is scattering flowers from the horn of plenty she is holding over
the spirits of Science and the Arts and their attributes."

Commissioned and purchased by the French State in 1804. Exhibited at the 1804
Salon (ndeg. 228). Assigned to the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse in
1812.

A study for this painting can be found in the Musée Dobrée in
Nantes.

This battle took place in July 1795; at the head of the republican army, Hoche
repelled a disembarkation attempt by royalist émigrés led by
Charles Virot de Sombreuil, Hervilly and Joseph de Puisaye and helped by the
British fleet. More than seven hundred émigrés were taken
prisoner and shot at the end of the battle. The long description of this
painting in the Salon handbook seems like pure anti-English propaganda, prior
to the continental blockade: "Everybody understood the reason for this Anglican
expedition, the perversity behind it and the dreadful treason which left in its
wake an everlasting seal of opprobrium for the British cabinet [...] In this
expedition, England's sole objective was to see Frenchmen cutting Frenchmen's
throats..."

Study for his Academy admission piece in 1783. Exhibited at the 1800 Salon.
Purchased by the city of Caen from M. Munin in 1823. Falsely attributed to
Joseph-Marie Vien in 1837.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "Tithonus and Aurora
when the goddess leaves her husband's arms to begin her flower-strewn race
across the sky." In Greek mythology, Tithonus was carried off by Aurora and was
granted immortality by Zeus. However, he had forgotten to ask for eternal youth
and soon became so decrepit that he was kept in a basket, like a baby. Aurora
finally transformed him into a grasshopper.

Academician, painter and pastellist, she was the official portraitist of Louis
XV's sisters.

The Painter François-André Vincent.

Oil on canvas; 73 cm x 59 cm.

Boitelle sale, 13 March 1891 (ndeg. 35). Gift of Georges Decaux to the French
State in 1905.

Son of the Genevan miniaturist François Elie Vincent (1708-1790),
François André Vincent (1746-1816), the artist's second
husband, was one of the forerunners of neoclassicism. He was the leader of a
school before being dethroned by David.

Pupil of Vien, trained in Rome, he made his career in Bordeaux, where he was
director of the Academy and School of Drawing.

Cleopatra Mourning at the Tomb of Mark Antony

Oil on canvas; 179 cm x 137 cm.

Signed, dated: P. Lacour 1781 (top right on the tomb).

Commissioned circa 1774 by M. Saige, together with seven other scenes from the
Bible and ancient history, for the galleries in his private mansion (today the
Bordeaux police headquarters). Exhibited at the 1782 Salon in the Bordeaux
Stock Exchange gallery. Recuperated by Lacour in 1794. Lacour junior sale,
Bordeaux, 1859 (ndeg. 87). Pillot Collection. Purchased by the city of Bordeaux
in 1973.

The subject is drawn from Plutarch's Lives of Famous Men (CVII): "She
[Cleopatra] asked Caesar if he would allow her to offer the last funerary
oblations for Antony's soul; her request being granted, she had herself carried
to the tomb..." Lacour added another anecdote taken from a previous episode
related by Pliny in his Historia Naturalis (IX, 58). Cleopatra
possessed "the two largest pearls that had ever existed." During a banquet in
Mark Antony's honour, the Queen of Egypt "ordered a cup of strong acid vinegar,
took off one of her pearls, dropped it in the liquid and when it had dissolved,
swallowed it."

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, director of the St. Petersburg Academy,
then the French Academy in Rome, he specialised in historical scenes or scenes
from Antiquity.

Horatius after Striking his Sister.

Oil on canvas; 95 cm x 134 cm.

Study executed in Rome between 1750 and 1754. Lagrenée sale, 1814 (ndeg.
20). Purchased by the city of Rouen at the Lecoupeur sale, Rouen, 1867.

The companion piece, A War Offering Made the Day Before Battle by the
Samnites who Swore to Sacrifice Themselves for their Homeland , may be
found in the Musée de Bourges.

The episode depicted is taken from Livy's History of Rome (Bk. 1,
XXVI): After defeating the Curiatii, the last of the three Horatii brothers
meets his sister, who had been betrothed to one of the dead champions. The
young woman is "in tears [...] The proud young man is overcome by anger at his
sister's lamentations amid the crowd's transports of joy celebrating his
victory. He draws his sword and as he strikes the young woman, he showers her
with reproach: "Take your scandalous love away! Go and join your fiancé
[...] you who have forgotten your homeland! So dies any Roman woman who would
mourn an enemy."

History painter, member of the Rouen Academy of Science, Literature and Fine
Arts, he was also an illustrator.

Henry IV and Sully at Fontainebleau.

Oil on canvas; 327 cm x 240 cm.

Signed, dated: Le Barbier pinxit 1783 .

Tapestry cartoon commissioned by Louis XVI for the Gobelins factory for the
Story of Henry IV series. Exhibited at the 1783 Salon. Crown
Collection. Property of the French State.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "The subject is
familiar after the piece depicting Henry IV's hunting party; the author set the
scene in the gallery at Fontainebleau, but the episode actually took place
outside at Fontainebleau along what was formerly known as the white mulberry
walk.

Sully himself related how, on entering the King's bedchamber, the sovereign
said impatiently to Beringhem: 'The weather isn't good; I don't want to go
riding, take off my boots.' He then went down to the Queen's Garden, followed
the path to the kennels, summoned Sully, who had taken his leave of him, and
said, 'Come here, haven't you anything to say to me?' He then took me by the
hand, said Sully, and leading me down the Mulberry Walk, he had two Swiss
guards who did not understand French put at the entrance... I wanted to embrace
his knees, but he would not let me, so that any courtier who may have seen this
posture from afar would not think I had made such a gesture to obtain
forgiveness for a real crime... At the end of this scene, the King took back
the papers that had led to this discussion."

Pau, Musée National du Château (inv. MV 6929, inv. 2414, MR
1905).

(C) Copyright Direction des Musées de France, 1994.

Lemoyne François

Paris, 1688; Paris, 1737.

Academician, Academy professor, First Painter to the King and history
painter.

Study for the Hercules Ceiling.

Oil on canvas; 149 cm x 122 cm.

Study for the ceiling executed between 1733 and 1736 in the Hercules Room, at
Versailles. Property of the French State.

Originally in the War Ministry at Versailles. Exhibited at the 1757 Salon.
Louis XV Collection. Crown Collection. Property of the French State.

A preparatory drawing can be found at the Musée de l'Armée in
Paris.

Part of a group of paintings also at Versailles (inv. MV 182, MV 187, MV 197,
MV 204, MV 210, MV 212).

A replica belonging to the Count of Argenson is preserved in the Château
des Ormes.

Louis XV, Louis de Bourbon and Count Maurice of Saxony were present at the
Battle of Fontenoy, a town in the Belgian province of Hainaut. During this
episode in the Austrian War of Succession, the French army challenged the
troops of the Anglo-Dutch coalition on 11 May 1745.

Academy admission piece. Exhibited at the 1769 Salon (ndeg. 124). Academy
Collection (?). Confiscated during the Revolution (?). At the Château of
Vincennes in 1869. Left in deposit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes,
in 1896.

In Greek mythology, the centaur Chiron, who was skilled in the arts of music,
war, hunting, ethics and medicine, had advised the mortal Peleus how to make
the goddess Thetis marry him. The child born from this union, Ligyron, was
brought up by Chiron and renamed Achilles.

Part of a series of paintings also at the Rennes Musée des Beaux-Arts
(inv. 801.1.7, 801.1.9 and 801.1.10).

Formerly attributed to François Joseph Casanova. Similar to a
watercolour by François Joseph Casanova, The Fallen Bridge , in a
sale at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, in 1950 (ndeg. 641 of L'Annuaire du
collectionneur, 1949-50).

"Loutherbourg's landscapes do not have Vernet's subtlety of tone; but his
effects are decisive; he uses impasto." Diderot.

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, director of the French Academy in Rome,
member of the Institute, he drew his subjects from French history.

Allegory of the Birth of the Dauphin, the 22nd October 1781.

Oil on canvas; 98 cm x 130 cm.

Signed, dated: F.Ménageot.1783.

Study for a work commissioned by the town hall of Paris in 1783, which was
exhibited at the Salon the same year (ndeg. 30) under the title Allegorical
Painting, Commissioned by the City of Paris, to Celebrate the Birth of His
Royal Highness THE DAUPHIN and destroyed at the time of the Revolution.
Grouvelle Bequest to the French State in 1895.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "France can be seen
holding His Royal Highness the new-born Dauphin in her arms; Wisdom precedes
him, while Health supports him: in his retinue are Justice, Peace and
Abundance. On a perron in the foreground, the town aldermen welcome His Royal
Highness the Dauphin and thank Heaven for the gift France has received. On the
opposite side, the eager crowd expresses the people's joy and happiness. In the
background, the pyramid of immortality is decorated with portraits of the King
and Queen. At the top of this monument, Victory inscribes the date of the
Prince's birth, making an allusion to the capture of Yorktown, the news of
which arrived the same day as the Queen gave birth."

Landscape artist, painter to the Count of Artois, but not an academician.

View of the Bellevue Hillside from the Park at Saint-Cloud.

Oil on canvas; 56 cm x 81 cm.

Purchased at the Etienne Arago sale on 4 May 1892 (ndeg. 18).

Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. RF 719).

(C) Copyright Direction des Musées de France, 1994.

Natoire Charles Joseph

Nîmes, 1700; Castelgandolfo, 1777.

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, director of the French Academy in Rome,
he executed numerous decorative cycles and tapestry models for the Gobelins and
Beauvais factories.

The Siege of Bordeaux (Story of Clovis).

Oil on canvas; 266 cm x 334 cm.

Signed, dated: C. Natoire 1737 (bottom right).

One of a group commissioned by Philibert Orry for his Château de La
Chapelle-Godefroy near Nogent-sur-Seine. The other works in the series are also
at the Musée de Troyes (inv. 834.3, 879.1.6, 879.1.7, 879.1.9,
879.1.48). Exhibited at the 1737 Salon under the title The Siege of Bordeaux
by Clovis . Philibert Orry Collection (1737-1747). Jean Henri Louis Orry de
Fulvy Collection (1747-1751). Philibert Louis Orry de Fulvy Collection
(1751-1760). Bouret de Valroche Collection (1760-1761). Jean de Boullongne
Collection (1767). Jean Nicolas de Boullongne Collection (1767-1787). Paul
Esprit Charles de Boullongne Collection. Confiscated under the Revolution in
1793. Troyes, Notre-Dame-aux-Nonnains Abbey. Assigned to the Musée des
Beaux-Arts, Troyes, in 1879.

Preparatory drawings in the Amsterdam Museum and in private collections.

An episode from the conquest of Aquitaine, at that time a Visigoth kingdom, by
Clovis I, King of the Franks. This representation bore witness to a revival of
interest in national history and was inspired by a passage from a heroic poem
in twenty-six cantos, Clovis or Christian France, written by academician
Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin (1595-1676) and published in 1657.

Admitted to the Academy, he spent a large part of his life at the court of
Spain.

English Tea in the Room of Four Mirrors at the Temple, with all the Court of
the Prince de Conti, Listening to the Young Mozart.

Oil on canvas; 54 cm x 70 cm.

Commissioned by the Prince de Conti in 1766. Exhibited at the 1777 Salon under
the title English Tea,in the Room of Four Mirrors, at the Temple,with all the Court of the Prince de Conti .Manner and date of
acquisition unknown.

This painting depicts one of concerts given by the child prodigy Mozart between
1762 and 1766; accompanied by his father and sister, he visited all the courts
of Europe.

Admitted to the Academy as a history painter, he then turned to still-life. He
was an Academy professor, Ordinary Painter of Royal Hunts, official painter of
the Beauvais factory and inspector at Gobelins. His portrait was executed by
Perronneau.

Commissioned by the Dauphin Louis of France to be hung above the door in his
cabinet at Versailles. Exhibited at the 1751 (?) Salon. Louis XV Collection.
Crown Collection. Property of the French State. Reproduced in engravings.

Sketches of the farm may be found at the Kunsthaus in Zurich; drawings of the
ducks are at the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge.

In addition to Oudry's remarkably sensitive handling of landscape, this
painting demonstrates the interest taken by the aristocracy in agriculture at
this time. That same year (1750), one of the Encyclopedia's
contributors, agronomist Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-82), had
published his Treatise on the Cultivation of the Land .

Admitted to the Academy, he was above all an exponent of history painting and
portraits.

Regulus Sets Out for Carthage.

Oil; 112 cm x 151 cm.

Signed, dated: Pajou fils 1793 .

Exhibited at the 1793 Salon. Gustave Vaillant Collection. Thérèse
Vaillant Collection. Mme Solvay Collection. Gift of Mme Petit-Collot to the
French State in 1964.

Held hostage by the Carthaginians, the Roman consul Regulus had been given the
chance to negotiate peace with Rome for Carthage in exchange for his freedom.
Not only did Regulus advise Rome to continue the war, but, refusing to break
his promise, he returned to Carthage where he was tortured and put to death.

Paris, Musée du Louvre (inv. RF 1964 5).

(C) Copyright Direction des Musées de France, 1994.

Parrocel Charles

Paris, 1688; Paris, 1752.

Academician and specialist in battle scenes.

Halt of the King's Mounted Grenadiers.

Oil on canvas; 219 cm x 249 cm.

Painted in 1737 for the dining room of the king's private apartments at the
Château of Fontainebleau. Exhibited at the 1737 Salon under the title
Advance Guard of the Cavalry . Louis XV Collection. Crown Collection.
Property of the French State.

Companion piece to Carle Van Loo's Halt in the Hunt , also in the Louvre
(inv. 6279).

Besides the outstanding still-life in the foreground and the detail of the
uniforms and equipment, this painting testifies to the organisation of a
regiment on the move.

Academy admission piece in 1753. Exhibited at the 1753 Salon under the title
Portrait of M. Oudry, Professor of the Royal Academy of Painting and
Sculpture . Academy Collection. Confiscated during the Revolution. Assigned
to the Louvre.

Academician, official painter of the Beauvais factory and inspector at the
Gobelins, Oudry (1686-1755) is portrayed in front of his easel. The
silhouette of a dog sketched on the canvas Oudry is working on is a reference
to his title of Ordinary Painter of Royal Hunts.

François Joachim de Pierre de Bernis Collection. Confiscated during the
Revolution. Assigned to the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, in 1793.

A drawing on blue paper with ink wash and highlights, Blind Belisarius
Receiving a Peasant's Hospitality , executed in Rome in 1778, an early idea
for this painting, was sold in Paris in 1816, with the artist's studio reserve.
Related (?) sketch representing the blind Belisarius exhibited at the 1785
Salon (ndeg. 180).

Jean-François Marmontel (1723-1799) used the Byzantine general
Belisarius (c. 500-565) as his hero in his moral and political novel published
in 1767. Justinian's faithful general Belisarius, who quelled the Nika riots,
the Vandals and the Ostrogoths, eventually fell out of favour. This book
inspired several neoclassical painters, including David. The episode depicted
here comes from Chapter II of Marmontel's work. The following description
appeared in the 1785 Salon handbook: "An old peasant, after having met the
blind Belisarius and offered him his hospitality, brings forth his family of
several women, who eagerly show the veneration in which they hold him."

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just Collection. Bassuret Collection. Purchased by the
city of Lyons from Mme Nodet in 1955.

Engraved by Hotelin. A copy of this painting can be seen at the Musée
National de la Coopération Franco-Américaine at
Blérancourt.

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (1767-1794), parliamentary representative for
Aisne, member of the political group La Montagne and the comité de
salut public (responsible for the Second Wave of Terror) alongside
Robespierre and Couthon, president of the Convention, was arrested and
guillotined with Robespierre.

Academician, president of the Arts Commission during the Revolution and one of
the exponents of early neoclassicism.

Diogenes Asking the Statues for Alms.

Oil on canvas; 111 cm x 144 cm.

Signed, dated: Restout fils 1765 (left).

Academy admission piece in 1767. Exhibited at the 1767 Salon (ndeg. 150).
Exhibited at the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of
Toulouse in 1770. Confiscated during the Revolution. Assigned to the
Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, in 1794.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "The philosopher
Diogenes lived on alms and to harden himself against the frequent refusals he
encountered, he appealed to insensitive beings, such as stones, statues, etc."

Winner of the Rome Prize, but never went to Italy; academician, Academy
director; portraitist of the French and European courts and the Parisian
bourgeoisie.

The Presentation in the Temple.

Oil on wood; 83 cm x 68 cm.

Louis XV Collection. Crown Collection. Property of the French State.

The scene depicted is taken from the Gospel of St. Luke (2, 22-28):

"And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it
is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be
called holy to the Lord; ) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which
is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves, or two young
pigeons . And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon;
and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel:
and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And
he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the
child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in
his arms..."

Gift of M. Larrieu-Estelle to the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, in
1920.

"He [Romulus] invited his neighbours to the spectacle [...] As for the Sabines,
the whole people came, including women and children [...] at a given signal,
the young Romans rushed from all sides to carry off the Sabine women..." Livy,
History of Rome , (Bk. I, IX).

Academician, member of the Conservatoire and Museum Commission under the
Revolution, he specialised in Italian and Parisian landscape.

Design for the Louvre's Great Gallery.

Oil on canvas; 33.5 cm x 42 cm.

Study for the 1796 Salon painting called Design for the Conversion of the
Museum's Gallery to Bring in Light through the Ceiling and to Divide it up,
without Altering the Extended View of the Premises , formerly in the
Tsarskoie Selo Palace and currently part of a private collection in Buenos
Aires. Jacques Doucet sale, Paris, 6 June 1912 (ndeg. 184). Gift of Maurice
Fenaille to the French State in 1912.

Exhibited at the 1789 Salon under the title A Basket of Fresh Eggs, with
Fruit and Vegetables . At the dealer Abraham Fontanel's in 1803.
Jacques-Joseph de Boussairolles Collection. Purchased by the French State from
the Saporta family in 1982.

The Light Collation (Musée du Louvre, inv. RF 1979 1) has been
exhibited with The Basket of Eggs since1803, although it is not a true
pendant.

Trained in Stockholm, settled in Paris, travelled in Germany, Austria, Italy
and Russia; academician, specialised in the society portrait.

Portrait of the Duke of Choiseul.

Oil on canvas; 95 cm x 72.5 cm.

Left in deposit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes, in 1872. Formerly
attributed to Louis Michel Van Loo.

Another version exists in the Musée de Versailles.

Born in Lorraine, descended from a distinguished family from Champagne, Etienne
François, the Duke of Choiseul (1719-1785), was Foreign Secretary,
Minister of War and Maritime Defence from 1758 to 1770. Here he wears the
insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Executed circa 1716. Orléans Collection. Purchased by the French State
from M. Lemarchand in 1834.

Son of Philip of Orléans, brother of Louis XIV and Charlotte Elisabeth
of Bavaria, grandson of Louis XIII, Philip of Orléans (1674-1723) bore
the title of Duke of Chartres until 1701. In 1692, he had married Mademoiselle
de Blois, Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan's lawfully recognised daughter.
"His Royal Highness the Duke of Orléans was of medium height at most,
stout without being fat, with a natural, highly noble air and bearing, a
pleasant, wide, ruddy face, dark hair and similar wig" (Saint-Simon). "My son
likes and understands war; he does not like shooting, gambling, dancing or
hunting [...] He enjoys distilling alcohols and perfumes; he is interested in
science and conversation. He talks rather well at a reception. He has studied
hard and knows a lot, for he has an excellent memory" (Charlotte Elisabeth of
Bavaria).

Marie Madeleine de La Vieuville, the Countess of Parabère (1693-1755) is
depicted as Minerva.

Winner of the Rome Prize, he spent most of his life in this town. A
protégé of the Pope and forerunner of neoclassicism, he tried his
hand at all genres.

Portrait of Pope Benedict XIV.

Oil on canvas; 125 cm x 98 cm.

Painted late1740 or early 1741, shortly after the sitter's accession to the
papal throne. Given to the Sorbonne by the Pope "as a measure of his esteem" in
1757. Confiscated during the Revolution. Alexandre Lenoir Collection (1838).
Duke of Sutherland Collection, Stafford House (1876). Duke of Aumale Donation
to the Institute in 1886 (actual entry in 1897, no loans or deposits
permitted).

Numerous replicas of this portrait exist, including one currently at the
Musée de Versailles, a previous gift to the Royal Academy made by
Cochin.

From 1740-1758, Prospero Lambertini (1675-1758) was the 245th Pope and took the
name of Benedict XIV. He recognised the kingdom of Prussia, had Galileo and
Copernicus removed from the Index and corresponded with members of the
scientific world.

The scene is taken from Book XXI of Homer's Iliad : "Ares, Breaker of
Shields, began the fight by making for Athene, bronze spear in hand [...]
Athene drew back and with her great hand picked up a block of stone that was
lying on the ground, a big rough boulder once used to mark a boundary. With
this she cast and struck the impetuous Ares on the neck, bringing him down.
There he lay, covering seven acres."

Academician, professor, director of the French Academy in Rome and history
painter. He also produced models for tapestries.

Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, Marquis of Marigny.

Oil on canvas; 132 cm x 96 cm.

Signed: Detroy . Painted in 1750.

Assigned to the French State by the Office des Biens privés in 1953.

Brother of the Marquise de Pompadour, Abel-François Poisson de
Vandières, Marquis of Marigny (1727-1781), was Administrator of Royal
Residences and Factories from 1751-1774. He was carefully prepared for this
post on a journey to Italy, accompanied by the engraver Cochin and the
architect Soufflot.

Academician and principal exponent of neoclassical landscape in France.

Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes.

Oil on canvas; 119 cm x 162 cm.

Signed, dated: P. de Valenciennes 1787 (bottom right).

Academy admission piece (1787). Exhibited at the 1787 Salon (ndeg. 171). Left
in deposit by the French State at the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, in
1962; previously in deposit at the Musée de Brou at Bourg-en-Bresse.

The following description appeared in the Salon handbook: "With his brilliant
strategies, Archimedes defended Syracuse for three years against the Romans,
led by Marcellus, but was killed when the town was finally taken and forgotten
by his fellow citizens. When Cicero was appointed Quaestor in Sicily three
hundred years after Syracuse's ruin, nobody could show him where the great
man's tomb was; they even denied its existence; but Cicero was sure of his
facts and knew that, before he died, Archimedes had asked that his tomb be
decorated only with his beautiful geometric figure, the sphere circumscribing a
cylinder. Thanks to this inscription he found the overgrown grave, had it
cleared and showed it to the people of Syracuse."

Academician, head of the queen's painting cabinet, she specialised in portraits
and still-lifes.

Still-Life, Cock and Hen, otherwise known as Two Dead Cockerels.

Oil on canvas; 53 cm x 64 cm.

Signed, dated:Mde Coster 1785 (bottom left).

Exhibited at the 1787 Salon under the title A Cock and a White Hen
(ndeg. 71).

Count of Angiviller Collection. Left in deposit by the French State at the
Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, in 1872. Falsely attributed to the Dutch
painter Melchior Hondecoeter (1636-1695) in 1932. Its companion piece A
Hunting Trophy belongs to Mme Ruby's Collection.

Brother of Louis Michel Van Loo, winner of the Rome Prize, academician,
professor then rector and director of the Academy, First Painter to the King,
he was the outstanding representative of the grand style .

Louis XV, King of France and Navarre (1710-1774).

Oil on canvas; 277 cm x 183 cm.

Signed: Carle Vanloo .

Commission given to Charles Parrocel by Louis XV in 1746, then transferred to
Carle Van Loo. Exhibited at the 1751 Salon. Louis XV Collection. Crown
Collection. Property of the French State.

The face was copied after a pastel by Latour.

Formerly attributed to Charles Parrocel.

Louis XV (1710-1774), known as Louis le Bien-Aimé , was Louis
XIV's great grandson, son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and
Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, and became king in 1715 at the age of
five. He married Marie Leszczynska, daughter of the King of Poland, in 1725.
The king is seen here wearing the necklace of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Brother of Carle Van Loo, winner of the Rome Prize, academician, director of
the San Fernando Academy in Madrid and portraitist at the court of Spain.

Denis Diderot.

Oil on canvas; 81 cm x 65 cm.

Signed, dated: L M Van Loo 1767 .

Exhibited at the 1767 Salon under the title Portrait of M. Diderot .
Diderot Collection. Gift of M. de Vandeul to the French State in 1911.
Reproduced in engravings.

Philosopher and man of letters, Denis Diderot (1713-1784) took a vivid interest
in the arts, as can be seen from his critical reviews of the Salons published
between 1759 and 1781. His commentary on his portrait by Van Loo was, "I myself
like Michel; but I like truth even better. There is a certain resemblance [...]
Very lively; it's his gentleness, together with his vivacity; but he's too
young, the head's too small, pretty as a woman, peering, smiling, affected,
turning up his nose, simpering, [...] and then there's the luxury of a garment
that would ruin a poor literary man, if the tax collector came to tax him on
his dressing gown [...] Sprightly close-up, vigorous from afar [...] his grey
toupet and his affectedness, make him look like an old flirt laying on the
charm; the attitude of a Secretary of State and not a philosher..."

Trained in Italy, academician, landscape painter and one of the forerunners of
Romanticism.

The Town and the Port of Toulon.

Oil on canvas; 165 cm x 263 cm.

Signed, dated, situated: peint par Joseph Vernet à Toulon en
1756.

One of a series of fifteen paintings of French seaports, commissioned by Louis
XV in 1753 and executed between 1754 and 1765. Exhibited at the 1757 Salon.
Louis XV Collection. Engraved by Cochin and Lebas in 1763. Crown Collection.
Property of the French State.

Thirteen other paintings in the series are in deposit at the Musée de la
Marine in Paris.

The following specifications appeared in the Salon handbook: "View of the town
and port of Toulon. This view is taken from a country-house halfway up the
mountain behind the town. Depicted here are the leisure activities of the
inhabitants and the carriages they use to go their country-houses, which are
known as bastides . The time of day is the morning."

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician, professor, director of the French
Academy in Rome, history painter and one of leading innovators of
neoclassicism.

St. Louis and Marguerite of Provence Visiting St. Theobald.

Oil on canvas; 383 cm x 180 cm.

Signed, dated: Jos.M.Vien. 1774.

Commissioned by Louis XV in 1767. Installed in the chapel of the "New Trianon".
Exhibited at the 1775 Salon. Louis XVI Collection. Crown Collection. Property
of the French State.

On commissioning this work, Louis XV specified the following: "St. Theobald of
Marly, Abbot of Vaux-de-Cernay, came from the House of Montmorency and France
believed it owed St. Louis' posterity to his prayers. He died on 8 December
1247."

The Salon handbook stated: "St. Theobald (from the House of Montmorency)
presented St. Louis and Marguerite of Provence with a basket of flowers and
fruit, from which eleven lilies miraculously sprang up. The king had no
children as yet. With these symbolic lilies, St. Theobald predicted he would
have eleven of them, while the tallest stem designated Robert, head of the
House of Bourbon." The saint is accompanied by his cousin Bouchard VI, head of
the House of Montmorency.

Academician, member of the St. Luke Academy in Rome and the Academy of St.
Petersburg, she was official portraitist of the Queen of France, then, during
the Revolution, at various European courts.

Marie-Antoinette of Austria, Queen of France.

Oil on canvas; 113 cm x 87 cm.

Exhibited at the 1783 Salon under the title Portrait of the Queen .
Louis XVI Collection. Crown Collection. Property of the French State.

Marie Antoinette Joseph Jeanne of Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria, born in
1755, daughter of the German Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa, Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia, married the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, in 1770. She
was guillotined in 1793.

Winner of the Rome Prize, academician and one of the initiators of
neoclassicism. His wife, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, executed
his portrait.

The Ploughing Lesson.

Oil on canvas; 213 cm x 313 cm.

Signed, dated: Vincent l'an VI (centre bottom).

Started in 1793, the painting was completed in 1798. The upper part of the
canvas was burnt in a fire at the Museum on 7 December 1870. Purchased by the
city of Bordeaux from Bernard Boyer-Fonfrède in 1830.

There are two preparatory drawings in private collections; three studies in
paint also exist: one in the Count of Mimerel Collection, one in the M. Bruno
Calvet Collection in Bordeaux and one that was sold at the Georges Petit
Gallery in Paris on 3 June 1922 (ndeg. 15).

The scene attests to the physiocratic ideas as found in Treatise on the
Cultivation of the Land (1750) by the agronomist Henri Louis Duhamel du
Monceau (1700-82) and Rural Philosophy or General and Individual Economy of
Agriculture (1764, 3 volumes) by the economist Mirabeau (1715-89).
It may depict the family of the future Girondin member of the National
Convention, François Bernard Boyer-Fonfrède (1766-93), with his
wife Marie-Anne, née Barrère, and their children Geneviève
and Jean-François Bernard, who is having a ploughing lesson.

The Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera, formerly known as The Embarkation for
Cythera.

Oil on canvas; 129 cm x 194 cm.

Academy admission piece. Provisionally elected in 1712, Watteau only submitted
his admission piece, the choice of which was exceptionally left up to him, in
1717, after several complaints from the Academy. Academy Collection.
Confiscated under the Revolution. Assigned to the Louvre. A replica may be
found at the castle of Charlottenburg in Berlin.

Commissioned by Carrez. Laniel-Carrez Collection. Laniel Collection. Jules
Lenglart sale at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris,10 March 1902 (ndeg. 103). Paul
Delemer Collection. Purchased by the city of Lille at the André Delemer
sale at the Palais Galliera, Paris, 27 March 1971 (ndeg. 37). In deposit at the
Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse, Lille. Reproduced in engravings.

Several preparatory drawings for the crowd and a companion piece (inv. P 1864)
are at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille.

Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) perfected the Montgolfier brothers' balloon.
A few months before this painting was executed, he and Jefferie had made the
first Channel crossing in a balloon. The same year, he would be the first to
try out the parachute. He made numerous balloon flights in Europe and America
during his lifetime. His wife, Sophie Armand (1778-1819) was also a balloonist
and was to meet her death on one of her experimental flights.

Pupil of David, he made his career in Italy, in Florence, Naples and, above
all, Rome.

The Judgement of Solomon.

OIl on canvas; 103 cm x 155 cm.

Signed, dated, situated:J.J. Wicar inv. et fecit 1785 Lutetiae.

Gift of the artist to the city of Lille in 1785. Exhibited at the 1786 and 1817
Salons des Beaux-Arts in Lille.

Artists have frequently treated this biblical subject from the First Book of
Kings (3, 16-28) where two prostitutes both claim to be the mother of one
child: "And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before
the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to
the one and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was
unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord,
give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it
be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give
her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof."